Calculating ‘Spider-Man’ Costs

Recently released financial statements from Michael Cohl’s $75 million “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” raise one serious question about the Broadway production: Will it ever break even?

Documents obtained by the New York Times have unveiled exactly where some of that big budget has been spent, with about $1 million in operating costs each week on top of $9 million going to Spidey’s sets, costumes and shoes, another $6 million to stagehands and $1 million for lawyers’ fees.

The show has reportedly taken to discounting many tickets and is bringing in less than $1.3 million weekly, which led veteran Broadway producer Tom Viertel to wonder how the musical will fare financially.

“‘Spider-Man’ has the most daunting set of costs and recoupment schedule that I’ve even seen on Broadway,” he told the Times. “By a factor of four or five.”